The British Council Theatre and Dance team are currently busy working on their tenth showcase since 1997 at the Edinburgh Festival. Colin Hambrook spoke to Neil Webb Director of Theatre and Dance about the outcomes British Council are hoping for as a result of the showcase and the broader spectrum of their disability arts work across the globe

From nearly 250 applications British Council have selected a programme of 30 companies to showcase a snapshot of the diverse work currently being created in the UK, including devised, visual and physical theatre; new writing; live art and installation; interactive and immersive theatre; and dance theatre.

The programme will be presented to a delegation of visiting international programmers so that a new global audience can experience British performances. The British Council’s role is to create connections between artists in the UK and overseas, supporting touring opportunities and collaborations between artists here and abroad, so Edinburgh is an ideal platform to bring programmers, producers and artists to see work.

Neil Webb says: "The Edinburgh showcase is very different from a platform like Unlimited. So work has not been selected because of its relationship to disability. Disability arts isn’t presented in parallel at the showcase, but rather forms part of the core programme of the festival.

"It just so happens that we are lucky to have a significant number of artists who’ve emerged from the disability arts sector who are making excellent work. As a result we’ve had more applicants from the disability sector this year: so Touretteshero, Caroline Bowditch, Claire Cunningham, Fittings, Paines Plough and Ramesh Meyyappan have all been selected. In fact this year we had more applicants than ever before - and it was all really strong work.”

"Delegates from anywhere up to 70 countries attend on any showcase year. This year the largest delegations are from Australia, China, Chile, Georgia, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, Turkey and USA, with a large delegation from across countries in East Asia. Generally they come looking for work they can either programme in their festivals, or artists whose work can be adapted or made afresh."

"There are many reasons, principally to do with language or access that work needs to be recreated to be presented for a foreign audience - especially with less traditional work. What's interesting is nearly all of our regions have disability arts as one of their key areas of work. So many partners we’re working with will be looking specifically to programme disability artists in one way shape or form."

"It does vary from country to country as to how much disability awareness there is and what the access issues might be. So for example we programmed a specific Disability arts festival in Qatar in 2013. It was important that the festival was disability-specific because it was a first for Qatar in terms of engaging with disabled artists. In other places where there is more awareness of disability we are more likely to be programming a piece of work without any particular focus on disability issues. But the Arts and Disability Festival, delivered in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Arts & Heritage in Qatar was one of many projects spurred by 2012 and the Unlimited Festival, which marked a real step-change."

"Listening to Rebecca Dawson, (Executive Director, Candoco) talking the other day it can start with basics like 'can the actors get to the dressing room?' 'Can the actors get from the dressing room to the stage?' Even in parts of the world where they’ve worked out how to make the auditorium accessible its often the case that there is little access or awareness around working with disabled performers. When you pick apart the societal issues, the religious issues and linguistic issues it soon becomes very complex."

"What is amazing to me is the impact disability performance can have on society starting from the fact that it can bring about a very basic awareness. Often people who’ve never had contact with disabled people are brought face to face with individuals and so begin a conversation about what that means. It varies from place to place but in cities and cultures that have previously had no exposure to disability arts it can soon becomes a catalyst for change with a knock on effect in terms of thinking about human rights and making changes in policy."

"For the artists they don’t always want to be the crusader for disability rights or they may say they don’t want to go specifically to put the disability agenda at the forefront. But equally sometimes opportunities present themselves and grow into something bigger. So for instance Jenny Sealey from Graeae has been working in Bangladesh with a local company for two years developing the first integrated theatre company, who are working towards a production in 2016."

"Jenny was invited to Bangladesh to meet Bachchu Yousuff who is a director of national and international repute who wants to do Shakespeare on the Dhaka National Theatre stage - and he wants an inclusive cast. At the moment actor training for disabled people is non-existent and there is very little inclusive practice. So starting with several visits and workshops the programme is building into something very exciting. We’ve had recent troubles with Access to Work provision but are doing what we can to support Jenny to ensure this work goes ahead."

"Currently we have over 200 delegates booked on the Edinburgh showcase. At the moment it looks like the majority of those delegates are new to disability work with the British Council, so we can't predict what specific results we'll get from the prgramme. The outcomes will develop very much on a country by country basis."

"However, in terms of current developments, Japan are working towards an Olympics in 2020 and an Unlimited-type festival has been written into their bid. Our partners there have been looking to the UK for advice, support and content for producing the festival. Unlimited Producer Jo Verrent and British Council, Theatre and Dance Programme Manager, Carole McFadden have been to visit. So opportunities there may well arise for our disability arts companies presenting in Edinburgh."

Brief summary of British Council Disability Arts Work 2012-2014

In 2012 British Council created an international showcasing opportunity around the first Unlimited Festival at the Southbank Centre. They invited 50 international promoters/programmers who came from all corners of the globe – from Australia to the Middle East to Brazil.

For many of their overseas partners, attending the Unlimited Festival was a truly transformational moment, and the outcomes have been numerous and far-reaching, including:

Graeae Theatre Company developing a new three year theatre education programme with schools and arts organisations, including Ida Rieu, in Pakistan

Unlimited Access EU – a two-year EU funded project working with partners in the UK, Portugal, Greece and Croatia to develop disability awareness and access, foster collaborations and identify high quality work for programming. Looking to widen scope Europe

Jo Verrent delivered workshops for the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in Hong Kong for programmers and staff

Shape delivered Access training in Brazil for Rio 2016

Jo Verrent and Caroline Bowditch both spoke at the Arts Activated Conference in Sydney in October 2014

Comments

Neil Webb

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7 August 2015

Representing the diversity of the UK – in all its forms – is a key consideration for the Edinburgh Showcase and all of our British Council programmes. We actively encourage BAME, Deaf and disabled artists from all four nations of the UK to apply to the Edinburgh Showcase. Ultimately, work is selected for its artistic quality, the relevance to audiences in the markets where we work and its potential to tour.

We are committed to increasing the numbers of BAME artists in the Showcase and to that end we launched the Emerging Artists Development Programme this year. Working with Arts Council England and partners across England, we have identified 15 BAME artists whom we will be taking to Edinburgh to see work, develop networks, and gain a better understanding of the Fringe, the British Council Showcase and the type of work international promoters are looking for. We are also partnering with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society this year on their Emerging Producers Development Programme and through our networks have targeted Deaf, disabled and BAME producers to apply.

We look forward to receiving more applications from BAME artists in 2016 from which to curate an even more diverse programme for the 2017 Showcase.

Colin Hambrook

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5 August 2015

I also think that the demise of decibel has had an impact on the take-up of 'diverse' artists. If the Arts Council's decibel showcase were still going I am convinced there would be much more uptake of a range of companies and artists who don't get a look in: not necessarily because of colonialist attitudes, but simply because they are not being seen by the necessary people.

Colin Hambrook

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3 August 2015

I can’t speak for the British Council and their attitude to employing diverse artists on their programmes.

Historically the Disability Arts Movement has failed to attract artists from a more diverse ethnic backgrounds. It's something that we've thought about and talked about a lot within the Disability Arts sector - but have largely failed to act upon.

Aside from DaDaFest who have always looked to encourage and programme a diverse range of artists there has been little done to open the opportunities within the disability arts sector up. But equally we’ve seen the sector diminish enormously in the last 15 years, and with it the resources to take action have also lessened. Especially the number of disability arts fora, whose job it was to open disability arts up to people on the periphery.

We find ourselves more and more in a situation of working harder with much less capacity.

There are a number of diverse musicians who identify as disabled who've gained a reputation within the sector - I'm thinking specifically of people like Baluji Shrivastav, Clarence Adoo, Ziad Sinno, Baluji Shrivastrav and Hassan Eraji - but less so within performing arts or the visual arts.

To a large extent we have relied on artists to come forward to embrace disability arts; the opportunities have always been scarce and getting scarcer and many artists with impairments are reluctant to identify openly as ‘disabled’.

babe

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3 August 2015

It only works if you are white. They do not have space for or give time to you if you are not able to continue the colonial myth

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